Coincidences
by SabreDae
Summary: In two chance meetings Jess and Becker grow closer, learning more about the other than could ever be discovered from personal files. But will what they learn bring them closer together or push them further away? Two-shot.
1. The Parkers

**Description: In chance meetings, Jess and Becker grow closer, learning more about the other than could ever be discovered from personal files. But will what they learn bring them closer or push them further away?**

**A/N: Hope you like it. Another chapter to come. Please review!**

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><p><strong>The Parkers<strong>

On my only day off of the month, I decided to head out to Homebase to buy the Polyfiller I needed to finally fix the crack in my kitchen wall. It had been there pretty much since I moved in, when, after Sarah had died and we failed to rescue Abby, Connor and Danny; I threw one of my rifles across the room. It had actually been rather satisfying to destroy what had so uselessly defended my friends, and the cloud of paint and dust that fell from my wall held a strange attraction that meant I had to restrain myself from completely ruining my flat.

It was a chilly autumnal morning, where the frost covered leaves covering the pavement crunched underfoot, as I briskly walked to my car and dived in, turning the heating on instantly. The car soon warmed up whilst I concentrated on the roads and where I was going.

Again, once I had parked, I hurried into the expected warmth of the shop, through the electric sliding doors under the green Homebase logo.

I sped past the home aisles filled with lamp shades, wallpaper, bed covers and curtains then past the paints until I reached the Polyfiller, picking up a tube without really looking at the label. To be honest, I just wanted to buy the thing and get back to the flat and spend less time in the chilly warehouse that was Homebase. At the till there was a bit of a queue, and I sighed as I joined it, thinking idly about why shops never seemed to be able to have more than one till open. It may have been a Sunday morning, but in my experience, Sundays were always busy because many people didn't work weekends and took them as an opportunity to go shopping.

I was stood behind a group of three people talking loudly, although one of them seemed to be desperately trying to keep her voice down. I looked at her back, thinking her hair looked the exact same shade as Jess', that lovely brown colour with the hint of red that so beautifully brought out the pink in her cheeks. I always acted like I was emotionally stunted around Jess, and everyone noticed it. But I knew she had a crush on me. Don't get me wrong, Jess was amazing. There was something about her that was just so…_Jess. _But after Abby, Connor and Danny disappeared and Sarah died, I was left alone on the team, and I didn't want to ever be that close to anyone and then lose them again. I was still stuck in that mind-frame when Jess started, bright and chirpy to my depressed, moody state. And after a while I didn't know how to approach her and tell her how I was beginning to feel.

But lately things had gotten to the point that it was becoming harder to remember why I'd never said anything in the first place. Every time she skipped into a room, my eyes locked onto her trademark colourful shoes, before moving up her slim legs to her unprofessionally short skirt, to her top and then to her face. Her beautiful cerulean blue eyes were just captivating, and I was sure she must have begun to notice me staring into them.

The queue was slow moving – the operative at the till half-heartedly scanning the numerous plants that the first couple in line had bought.

Again, I sighed, bored out of my brains. Trying to occupy my mind with some sort of activity, I visually went over how to disassemble and reassemble an AK47 rifle.

"No, Dad, we've been over this. It _has _to be lime green. Nothing else will work with Mum's curtains," a voice hissed, cutting into my thoughts. "Anyway, we're not decorating that room today; we'll do it next weekend." It was strange, the voice seemed very familiar, but in a way I also felt like I'd never heard it before.

"Calm down, Jessie. I just don't like the colour, that's all," the elderly man in the brown coat replied.

Jessie? I wondered whether it was possible, and tried to lean around slightly to get a better view of the side of her face. Unfortunately, I overbalanced and fell into a pile of those rubbish invented products that were always advertised on TV.

The woman whirled round in the racket, and I found myself staring up from the floor at Jess' shocked face.

"Jess, fancy seeing you here," I said, smiling genuinely. I couldn't quite believe how long it had taken me to realise that it was her. I was already beginning to feel that my life revolved around her. Dusting my hands, I got to my feet and Jess began to help me restack the products into a pile. "So what are you doing here?"

"Getting paint to redecorate my dad's house," she replied, completely forgetting about that fact that she had to pay for the ten pots of paint. "How about you?"

"I've got a crack that needs sorting." I showed her the Polyfiller and then placed the last product back in place. "Thanks for the help."

"Jessie, do you know this man?"

"Yes, Dad, he's…well, this is Hi-" I cut her off with a sharp look. I _hated _people calling me Hilary. It was old fashioned, not to mention that fact that it was a woman's name. It was no wonder I'd rebelled against it and joined the army. "Well, Dad, this is…is-"

She was interrupted again by the younger man, who looked incredibly like her now that I could see his face. Although his hair was lighter and mousier coloured, he had the exact same blue eyes and high cheekbones. I was so used to seeing those features on Jess that I actually thought he looked rather effeminate. I guessed, however, that he was her brother.

"Spit it out, Jess," he muttered, rolling his eyes at her.

"Shut up, Tom! Well this is…my…Becker, I mean colleague."

Her father's eyes widened. "What do you mean 'your Becker'? He's not your boyfriend is he? How come you never said anything about him?"

"No, Dad," Jess groaned, and I got the feeling that she was resisting the urge to slap her forehead. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Oh?"

"We just worked together, Sir," I told him, still grinning.

"Oh so your work is '_classified' _too, eh? You can't tell me what exactly it is that you do either?" He grumbled, his wrinkled brow rapidly moving up and down, also causing his tweed hat to shake.

"I can tell you some details, Sir," I replied respectfully, whilst smothering laughter because of Jess' horrified expression.

"Oh? Sir? Aren't you posh. Go on then. Tell me."

"Becker," Jess said through clenched teeth whilst standing on my foot. "We've signed the Official Secrets Act. You can't."

"Relax. You're too highly strung."

"Isn't she?" Her brother agreed with me. "I keep telling her she needs to learn to relax or she'll be scarred with terrible wrinkles before she's forty!"

I was getting the distinct impression that her brother was gay. For one thing, he was dressed even more flamboyantly that Jess, and I didn't even think that was possible.

"Aren't you going to tell me what you do?" Her father interrupted.

"Yes, Sir, right away. I work out in the field for our government department, protecting the team. I'm also the head of security."

"What on earth do you need to protect government workers from? Dissatisfied pensioners?" He joked.

"Well, Sir, we do often deal with the public. One woman said something the other day about flying saucers," I quipped back to him.

"No need to try to fool an old man," he mumbled, turning around after glaring quite fiercely at me. Jess shot me an apologetic look and hurried after him.

"Dad, are you alright?"

"Ah, I'm fine. Just messing with you. I like this guy. Becker, how do you fancy coming back and helping an old man to redecorate his house?" He asked turning around to face me again.

"You don't have to," Jess said instantly, though her eyes were filled with hope.

"I'd love to," I told them all.

"Great," Jess and her father replied at the same time. "Though no more calling me Sir. John will do just fine," her father added.

"I'm Tom by the way."

"My baby brother," Jess explained.

"May I just say you have lovely hair," Tom enthused, reaching out to touch the front coif. He was _definitely _gay. Jess looked highly amused by my dilemma: I didn't want to offend her brother; but neither did I really want him stroking my hair. I wasn't homophobic, but it was embarrassing in a shop full of people who were already staring in our direction because I'd knocked over tonnes of stuff.

After paying for my Polyfiller, I tucked it inside my coat and followed Jess and her family from the shop. However, we soon parted ways and Jess accompanied me to my car to direct me towards her family home.

"Sorry about that," she muttered as soon as her father and brother had walked two yards away from us.

"Sorry about what?"

"Everything: my brother, the twenty questions…all of it."

"Jess, they're your family," I told her in what I hoped was a gently voice. "You can't change them and it didn't bother me at all, so don't worry about it."

Jess smiled gratefully at me.

"Okay so where are we going?"

"Take the right turning," Jess instructed, speaking to me in exactly the same measure, clear tone she used whilst she was working the ADD and controlling CCTV, GPS and a hundred other things at once. "Carry on about a hundred yards…turn right again. Take the next left. Follow the signs out to the motorway. Take the third exit. No not that one, next one."

When we finally arrived at Jess' house, we'd been driving an hour, and I began to wonder how it was she always made it into work before I did, then I remembered that it was her parents' house; not hers. Jess was much more likely to live in the centre of London, in an incredibly stylish two floor flat, filled with bright colours and electric goodies.

That was the complete opposite to her parents' house.

The house looked like a three storey, listed building, made from stone bricks rather than modern ones, with low cut door frames and ivy growing pleasantly up one side of the picturesque building. It was completely isolated in a sea of never-ending grass, surrounded only by a few posh looking cars – one a mint-condition old Bentley, a seventies Ferrari and a Rolls Royce.

I whistled lowly.

"You're rich."

Jess laughed. "My parents did like to lead a particularly affluent lifestyle."

"Did?" I asked, surprised by the past tense. I would have thought that the tendency for comfort and spending would only increase as time went past, but I was beginning to see why Jess had such a love for shopping.

"Yeah, ever since my Mum died, my Dad became more reclusive, never going out. It was a stretch to get him to agree to come with us today actually. Partly, I suppose the change is good – he gives all his money to me and Tom and lives with what he already has. And, I mean, he would never be able to cope with the advances in technology. Mum was always the one who organised him and did everything – he just took care of the cars or the lawn, fixed the occasional break but nothing serious."

"I'm really sorry," I muttered. It was emotional situations like these that I felt my most useless. In dangerous situations, in war, things were simple. Shoot the bad guy; kill the bad guy any way possible. But wherever emotions were concerned, there was never an easy solution.

"Thanks. It was a long time ago now so we've adjusted, but sometimes I still worry about him. There was nothing we could have done for her – the cancer, it just crept up and she never said anything about feeling ill because she didn't want us to worry. She didn't think we would be able to cope."

"She sounds like a very brave woman…"

"She was," Jess stared into the distance, lost in memory before turning to me with a wicked grin. "She'd give you a run for your money if she had to stare down a dinosaur."

"Then I'm sure she'd be proud of you and what you do every day," I told her, knowing _I _was proud of her.

"You think?"

I nodded.

"Just a shame we can never really tell anyone, you know?"

I murmured an agreement.

"What do your family think you do?" She asked, turning away from watching her Dad struggle out of their less flashy, convertible Mini to look at me.

"Huh? Oh, this and that. I never told them much to begin with…"

She stared at me, a strange expression in her face, scrutinising me, as though she was wondering why I never really said a lot about my private life, before sighing and getting out of my car.

"Come on, the quicker we redecorate, the quicker you can get home."

"I'm not sure I'll ever be able to find the way home," I muttered under my breath but judging by Jess' smirk she'd overheard me.

As we approached her father and brother, I called out, "Very nice cars, Mr Parker. The Rolls Royce…well they just don't make them that way anymore."

Her dad turned and began rambling about the mechanisms of the cars, the suspensions – comparing every minute detail while I nodded, intently listening.

"Boys," Jess murmured with a shake of her head, drawing a smile from me. "Er, Dad," she said tentatively.

"Ah, enough about cars," Mr Parker exclaimed, clapping me on the shoulder and dragging me towards his front door. "How'd you like the grand tour?"

"Dad, there's no need-" Jess spluttered, red with embarrassment.

"-You can't invite a guest back to your house and not show him around Jess. It's a common courtesy. You obviously need to relearn your manners – you can show Becker around. And by the way, you'll have to tell me your first name; I don't want to be forever calling you by your surname."

"It's Hilary," I told him.

"I see why you use your surname. Nothing to be ashamed of though. I'm going to go ahead and call you Hilary." I smiled, beginning to admire John Parker's honesty and openness.

"Come on, Becker. I'll show you around…" Jess walked through the front door and into the hall, leaving me to follow her. Inside, the house was filled with traditional patterned wallpaper – mostly neutral shades – and held a simple elegance.

Without stopping, Jess headed up the stairs all the way to the third floor and stopped underneath the hatch for the attic.

"Can you get that?" She asked, pointing to the cord she was too short to reach.

I nodded and yanked on it, pulling open the trap door and allowing the ladder to slide free.

"Thanks," she muttered, "Guests first."

"No, no after you. Ladies first."

Jess beamed, amused by our polite actions, before climbing up the ladder and into the loft space. I glanced up after her, forgetting about her liking of short skirts and felt myself flush as I saw a scrap of lace covering her round bottom before it disappeared into the attic.

"Coming?"

I jerked myself out of my reverie and clambered up after her.

Inside the loft, sat a menagerie of boxes and pieces of furniture. An old cot was partially hidden and as I stared at it, Jess noticed and explained, "It was mine. Dad's saving it for my firstborn child."

I nodded and looked at some of the other boxes, flipping the lid off the one closest to me and found myself staring at Jess' family photos. A gentle smile filled my face, as I saw the top one of Jess grinning a crooked grin (her middle teeth missing) as she sat on a swing with a beautiful woman who looked just like her.

"My mum, Mary," Jess whispered from behind me. "She was beautiful."

"You look just like her," I told her softly, watching a light blush spread across her cheeks as she realised my veiled compliment.

Underneath that photo, was one of Jess holding her newborn brother with her parents holding hands on either side of her. They were a proper family; not like mine.

"We should probably carry on with the tour," Jess murmured, moving past me and holding her hand out to pull me up from my crouch. I took it, surprised by its small size and squeezed it gently.

"Where now?"

Jess shrugged as she pressed a switch on the wall to recall the ladder and latch. "Why not follow your muse?"

I looked doubtfully at her, but let my feet take me where they wanted, following the landing around a corner and coming to a stop outside on of the rooms. Hesitantly, I pushed the door open and found myself in a bedroom with a small, white metal bedstead, with walls painted entirely pink.

"Your bedroom," I guessed.

"Nope. My brothers," Jess said with a grin. "You get half a point though because it was mine first. Come on, I'll show you my room."

She led me down a floor, stopping briefly to show me the family room that held her mother's sowing box, before continuing on to her room. On the door, there was still a sign that read "Jess' Room – for your own safety stay out."

"Jess, what on earth would be able to hurt me in your old bedroom?"

"You'll see…" She offered no elaboration and I so I was cautious as I turned the handle on her door and walked through, immediately catching sight of her walls that were plastered with pictures of four girls.

Seeing my focus on them, she pointed out each person. "The blonde one – that's Kirsty and then the two brunettes are Mandy and Beth."

I smiled at a picture of Jess with a massive rucksack over her shoulders and a tent standing behind her as she was on her Duke of Edinburgh expedition.

"You look very outdoorsy."

"I'm not. Trust me. Well you know about the insects…but that was before I knew," she replied.

I nodded and moved around the rest of the room, taking in the book titles on her bookcase. Pride and Prejudice. The Time Traveler's Wife. Jane Eyre. A few Milnes and Boone titles. There was a distinctive theme running through them: romance.

On top of the bookcase stood a large, framed photograph of Jess' mum. In that one, she sat alone on the sofa, looking weary as though it had been taken mere days before her death.

"It's a later one. I was nine at the time. It was about two weeks before she died."

"Why do you have it here?"

"To remind me to stay strong until the end," Jess answered honestly. It was an honourable thing to have the photo for, but I was surprised by how long Jess had lived without her mother.

"So what was the danger?" I asked as I opened her wardrobe, wondering whether she'd always had such bright tastes. I gasped as the air was knocked out of me.

"_That_ was the danger," Jess laughed, pointing at the boxing glove which had just punched me in the stomach.

"Why and how on earth did you rig that up, Jess?"

"I got the idea from one of the Home Alones and well, you know, I'm a genius. It didn't take a lot to work it."

"Clearly."

"And I needed it to stop Tom coming in here and stealing my clothes!" She exclaimed. "But I love him really."

"I can tell. You're much closer to your family than I am with mine, Jess."

"It's not too late to change that…We should probably get back to my dad and get decorating or we won't get done…"

I nodded, though I had a strange urge (one which I repressed, of course) to ask her to stay a minute, to turn her around, take her by the hand and kiss her senseless. Instead, Jess walked out, assuming I was following her whilst I was stuck imagining what kissing her might feel like.

"Becker?" She called, coming back to the door and staring at me. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," I said quickly and left.

On the way back downstairs, Jess showed me the reception rooms and family rooms and then took me to the kitchen where a pot of coffee was steaming, after just coming to the boil.

Jess and her family laughed, leaving me stood there in confusion.

"Sorry, Becker. We have an old family saying that as soon as someone puts the kettle on to boil whoever we're waiting for will arrive."

"Right," I muttered, remembering my grandmother used to have a similar saying about the milkman. It was probably just an old person thing. "So which room are we painting?"

"The garage actually. We're turning it into a home cinema room." Aside, Jess whispered, "You know so that Dad can have a bigger telly and louder sound so he could actually see and hear films."

"I'm not that deaf," her father complained.

Jess shot him a doubtful look but tactfully remained silent. "Here's your coffee by the way."

"Cheers," I murmured, taking it from her and having a sip. It was good. Expensive, obviously, but it was the strong kind that I always felt like I needed after a long, stressful day at work.

After some mild conversation and coffee, we moved out to the garage and collected the paint pots from the cars. It was a large space, already empty, but simply whitewashed.

"Paint away then Jess, Tom, Hilary…I'll be warming myself indoors in front of the fire."

As soon as Jess' father was out of earshot, I muttered, "I thought we were helping him, not working as slave labour…"

"Dad's never been a hands-on person," Tom told me, whispering conspirationally.

"Jess?"

"It's true. He was never much of a parent either. After Mum died, I did everything really – looked after Tom, made the meals and took over a lot of the cleaning and stuff. If it hadn't been for Auntie Sharon moving in, I'd have probably been overwhelmed. Still, whilst she did all the cleaning and stuff, I still raised Tom. Anyway that's why I'm so good at co-ordinating you guys at work. I'd already had so much practice at home."

"I'm so sorry, Jess."

"Why? I'm fine," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Yeah…but you lost out on your childhood and had some really bad experiences."

"Nothing's perfect," she whispered, whilst Tom moved away, giving us privacy and beginning the paint job.

"You are," I murmured, without even thinking.

"What?" She asked, stunned.

"I mean, you're pretty perfect, Jess. Look at the way you do your job…" It was a poor cover up, but Jess appeared to buy it. Though the way her face dropped made me wish I'd never said anything. I couldn't bear the effects of my stance on not getting close to colleagues after Sarah and Danny, Abby and Connor. Every time I saw Jess looking upset because I had rebuffed her again, I came one step closer to falling onto my knees and professing my love for her.

"I'm brilliant; not perfect, remember, Becker?"

"Both adjectives suit you, Jess."

She was silent, most likely embarrassed, before turning to Tom and taking two paintbrushes from him and a can of paint. Offering me a brush, she dipped her own into the paint and swept it across the wall in a smooth wave-like motion, halving the wall crossways.

"We're doing pale blue and half dark blue…just stay under this line."

I nodded. I could do that. It didn't require too much care, but I had steady enough hands that I wouldn't accidentally change the wavy line Jess had created.

For another hour we painted, and by that time it was beginning to get dark. When we finally traipsed indoors and threw ourselves into armchairs by John Parker's fireplace, he turned and said, "Hilary, stay the night."

"I couldn't do that, Sir…"

"Nonsense. I won't have you driving back in the dark. Besides you'll have no idea where you're going."

"I could go with him, Dad," Jess interrupted.

"It's not safe to drive these roads in the dark. They're full of twists and unlit corners. No you can stay and wait till morning and then Jess will show you the way back," he insisted, shouting down any arguments we made whilst Tom looked on in amusement.

Any other arguments I had dwindled into nothing when the family cat leapt down from John's lap and then up into mine. I'd never been much an animal person, and they'd never liked me.

"Becker, meet Cassie," Jess said, smiling and reaching over to scratch the cat behind the ears. Cassie, a tawny coloured tabby, purred appreciatively and kneaded my chest before settling and curling into a ball over my heart.

"She doesn't usually like strangers so you must be pretty special," Tom explained when I questioned his funny look.

Jess murmured something to herself that sounded suspiciously like, "He is special," and then flushed pink and ducked her head.

"Clearly she's picking up on Jess' feelings. I always did say they were so in-tune with one another that they must have had an empathy link…" Tom continued.

"Best be cracking on with dinner then if we've got company," John said, standing up and stretching.

"I'll help," Jess announced, looking extremely grateful for an excuse to escape.

Whilst John and Jess were in the kitchen making some dinner – Jess most likely doing all the work – Tom turned to me.

"You're really not getting all this, are you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked guardedly.

"The old man's trying to set the pair of you up," Tom said matter-of-factly.

"Jess and I are just work friends," I replied mechanically.

Scoffing, he mumbled, "Yeah, and I'm straight."

Deciding it would be best not to argue, I tried to forget about it, but when dinner was ready I couldn't help noticing how John made sure Jess and I sat side by side, close enough that our elbows were constantly touching.

When he took us upstairs and gave me a room, he pointed out the one beside Jess' and said in an undertone, "I may be an old man, but I'm not ignorant of modern customs. If something were to, er…happen, well then that's okay with me."

"Right, well, I'm not that kind of guy, Sir," I told him and hurried into the room, very embarrassed.

It was, however, a long night. I was overtly aware that there was only a thin wall separating Jess and I, and I even thought I could hear her moving in the next room. It was torture to be so close and yet so far away.

Finally though, I fell into an uneasy sleep of dreaming that I was trying to catch Jess and every time I came close to closing my arms around her, she disappeared and reappeared metres away.

In the morning, after a small breakfast, John said goodbye, looking sincerely disappointed and Jess and I left.

"Sorry we stole your weekend," Jess said the moment we got in the car.

"No, I enjoyed meeting the Parkers."


	2. The Beckers

**Description: In chance meetings, Jess and Becker grow closer, learning more about the other than could ever be discovered from personal files. But will what they learn bring them closer or push them further away?**

**A/N: Thanks so much for those reviews, guys! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.**

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><p><strong>The Beckers<br>**

I pulled into the Hotel car park with a sigh. It was my sister's wedding and I was almost dreading the family reunion I would have to go through. I hadn't seen or spoken to them in years, not since I'd come back from Afghanistan.

Still, after receiving Gillian's invite, I felt like I couldn't ignore it. She'd always been good to me after all. It was only Mum and Dad who couldn't understand why I joined the army and had refused to speak to me ever since. Whilst I had been out serving, I'd written the occasional letter to let them know I was okay, but once I came back and started working at the ARC, I'd pretty much severed all contact with them.

I just didn't understand why they couldn't compromise to accept my decision. It was like they didn't know me at all or understand my reasons for joining the army.

They weren't even pleased when I became a Captain. They weren't there when I was decorated for bravery.

Still, I resigned myself to the most awkward day of my life and climbed out of the car, hurrying across the gravel with my holdall to the front door and wondering why on earth Gillian had to have her wedding at the beginning of December when it was so cold.

At the front desk, the young female receptionist looked me up and down appreciatively before smiling and asking if there was anything she could do for me.

In another time, when I was a lot younger, I might have cockily replied, "I'm sure there's a _lot _you could help me with," and raked my eyes over her pretty face and good body. But she was no Jess. Her eyes weren't startlingly bright blue and they did not capture my attention every time I looked up. Her hair wasn't as shiny and her smile wasn't as big. And quite frankly she just wasn't nervous enough for me to like her as anything more than a friend.

"No thanks, Julie," I replied, checking her nametag briefly, "I just need you to tell me where the Jackson-Becker wedding party is."

"Oh, you must be the brother of the bride!" Gushed Julie. "Here's your room key. It's on the third floor for when you want to check in and the wedding party is currently in the restaurant."

I took the key from her and crossed the lobby to the lift, heading up to the third floor. I thought I might as well make things easier on myself and change before my mother had a go at me for being sloppy.

When I came back down in the lift, I nervously straightened my tie and gulped. I had no idea what I would say to my parents, or if they would even talk to me. All too soon the lift pinged and the doors opened. Breathing deeply, I walked out, aware that I couldn't stay in the lift forever.

The restaurant was large, and surprisingly filled with guests. Upon seeing me, Gillian jumped to her feet and ran over, her mahogany hair flowing out behind her, throwing her arms about my shoulders.

"Hil! I haven't seen you in so long. How are you?"

"Good to see you too, Gil. I'm fine. Really good actually. How about you?" I couldn't help smiling at her. Her enthusiasm was infectious.

"Well, I'll say," Gillian smiled. "I haven't seen you this happy in a long time…I wonder what's done it… Anyway I'm amazing. I'm so excited. Come on, you have to meet Greg!"

She began pulling me towards the table she had vacated and to the empty seat. As I passed, the man I presumed to be Greg stood up to shake my hand.

"Greg," he announced. "I've heard so much about you, Hilary; it's nice to finally be able to meet Gil's brother."

I nodded and returned to sentiment before I was overwhelmed with hugs from my other two sisters, Elizabeth and Cassandra, both of them hazel eyed with nutmeg coloured hair.

"How's work treating you? Last we heard," said Cassie, "you were working for the government! Can't imagine you like that, Hils, far too little shooting involved!"

"Actually, work's been great. And I get to shoot every day," I told her, settling into the seat at her side and smiling across the table at my nieces. It was a surreal experience really. I hadn't seen them since they were one when Cassie video conferenced with me whilst I was out in Afghanistan.

"Do tell us more," Ellie said, joining in the conversation.

"Sorry. Top secret. Can't tell you anything more than I already have."

"You don't sound sorry," Gillian muttered.

I grinned and looked down the table, noting the two empty places.

"Yeah, we're still waiting on Mum and Dad," Gil said quietly, shooting frantic glances at me.

"Pleased to see your Uncle Hil, Hannah?"

I looked up to see Hannah, one of the Gruesome Twosome – otherwise known as the twin daughters of Cassie – nod hesitantly whilst Grace stared at me wide-eyed.

We fell into an uncomfortable silence whilst we waited for Mum and Dad to arrive and I grew more anxious, retreating into the confines of my mind.

"So, you really can't tell us anything else about your job?"

"Nope, sorry, Ellie."

I was spared any more questions by my parents' entrance. It was pretty spectacular, as entrances go. We could hear the clip-clop of my mum's heeled shoes before she'd even come through the door. My father's hisses about being late were just as distinctive, and then the moment he came through the door, he collided with a waiter, knocking the tray from his hand and onto the floor, breaking the plates on it.

"I am _so _sorry," he said loudly, probably having left his hearing aid off.

Sighing, I got to my feet and went to help just as a young brunette from another table did the same.

"Here let me," she said bending and taking the broken china from my dad's hands. Squatting next to her I collected the rest and then turned to take the rest from her hands, gasping with recognition.

"Jess?"

"Becker! What are you doing here?" She responded with a dazzling beam.

"I'm here with my family. My sister's getting married tomorrow."

"Of course. Cassandra and Elizabeth are both already married so it must be Gillian, right?"

I stared at her, my brow furrowed as I tried to work out how she knew that.

"Your file," Jess murmured, turning slightly pink in the cheeks.

"So what are _you _doing her, Jess?"

"Catching up with Kirsty, Mandy and Beth," she replied, turning and pointing to three girls around a table beside us. Each of them was gawping at the two of us and I turned away from them, beginning to feel slightly embarrassed.

"What a coincidence," I murmured, remembering seeing their picture in Jess' old bedroom.

Jess nodded before saying, "You must be Becker's parents then," to my mother and father.

My Mother nodded, looking back and forth between me and Jess but before she could say anything – thankfully – Gillian came running up to us.

"What on earth is taking so long? I know you haven't spoken in over ten years, but we need to order-Oh, who are you?"

"Hi, sorry, I'm Jess. I work with Becker," Jess said brightly. "Congratulations on your wedding!"

"Oh, if you're friends with Becker than you have to come and eat with us."

"Well, I was actually here with…" Jess trailed off as her three friends shot her frantic looks and mouthed 'go'. "Sure, that sounds great. As long as I'm not imposing."

"Not at all. Perhaps you can tell us what Becker actually does for his job!"

"I'm not sure about _that, _but I would enjoy hearing about Becker growing up-not that I'm obsessed with him, of course," Jess blurted, beginning to ramble. "I mean, I care about him – not too much – as a friend, though if something more were ever to happen it's not like I would ever say no. Or I might, you know, because I'm not a slut – I'm not easy – but I'm not hard either…I'm going to just shut up now…"

Gillian smirked at me before grabbing Jess' arm and dragging her to our table, leaving me with Mum and Dad.

"Hilary," my dad nodded.

"Dad. Mum," I replied in the same level voice he'd used.

"Oh for goodness' sakes!" My mum moaned, pulling me into a hug. "We're sorry, Hilary, aren't we, David?" She shot my dad a sharp look and he nodded, perhaps a little unconvincingly. "You look well."

"I am," I answered, shooting a glance at Jess, which wasn't missed by either my mother or Gillian, who both grinned knowingly.

"You look like you could still do with a good deal of food, though."

Taking my elbow, we walked to the table just as the waiters brought over a couple more chairs.

"Thanks," I muttered as I took my seat beside Gillian with Jess on the other side between me and Cassie.

"So, Jess," Gillian said the instant we were all sat down. "How do you work with Becker? You seem a bit young to be working in government."

"She is," I muttered under my breath, but Jess heard me and playfully shoved me sideways.

"How old are you?" Cassie asked curiously, seeming to scrutinise her face.

"I just turned twenty," Jess told everyone self-consciously and continuously glancing around and looking at everyone before looking down. I squeezed her hand under the table and she continued speaking, answering Gillian's question. "I'm a Field Co-ordinator for the government department we work for. Becker's the Head of Security-"

"Wait, let me get this straight…_you…_get to order_ Becker_ around…" Ellie murmured incredulously, grinning at my other two sisters, oblivious to my glare. I _did not _get ordered around by anybody. Except perhaps Lester. Jess only gave me advisory instructions.

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"You are my idol!" Cassie exaggerated.

I was saved further embarrassment by the arrival of the starters that Gillian had pre-ordered. I only hoped Jess would like what had been chosen.

"Tell us about yourself then, Jess," Gillian said, dipping one of the bread rolls into her soup.

"What do you want to know?"

"The usual. Where you went to school-"

"-What your parents did-" Continued Ellie.

"-When your birthday is-" Butted in Cassie.

Jess' eyes widened at the synchronicity of my sisters' minds.

"You'll get used to it, dearie," my mother said sympathetically. We'd all long ago gotten used to the feat, though I supposed it would forever be an annoyance when they ganged up against me.

"Okay…well I'm from London, but I went to Uni at Liverpool-"

"You're only twenty! How've you been to university already?" Dad asked.

"Jess is brilliant," I told them, without really thinking who I was talking to.

"What, brother? Brilliant?" Gillian asked, smirking at me again. I knew she was beginning to work out who had been making me happy and the extent of my feelings.

"She is," I said defensively. "She's really clever. Tell them what your IQ is, Jess."

"I don't want to," Jess murmured shyly.

"182," I answered for her to the shocked faces of my family.

"Right…so no wonder you went to Uni early, really…" Ellie said to herself more than anyone else.

The starter began to lay forgotten as we talked and my sisters tried to pry information about me and Jess from my hands. But when the main arrived, we all dug in to the roast duck and talking was forgotten while our mouths were full. Then pudding arrived and Jess was too busy enjoying her chocolate fudge cake (no surprise there) to answer any questions my family had.

Finally, my Mum decided to step in and sent my sister's off for their final dress fitting, leaving me and Jess with Greg, my two brother-in-laws and my nieces.

"Uncle Hilary, who is this?" Hannah asked, pointing at Jess.

"This is my friend, Jess. Jess, this is Hannah and that's Grace."

"Hi," Jess grinned. "Are you going to be bridesmaids too?"

Both Hannah and Grace smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we're really excited. We've never been bridesmaids before!"

"Come on, you two, you need to try on your dresses," my mum said, reappearing and taking both of their hands. "Jess, Gillian's invited you to the wedding. What should I tell her?"

Flabbergasted, Jess stared.

"Tell her she said yes," I answered, looking Jess in the eye, almost daring her to defy me. Jess smiled before frowning.

"I told Lester I'd be back tomorrow…"

"Who's Lester?" My dad asked.

"Our boss," Jess answered.

"You mean our very annoying, sarcastic boss. Let me take care of him. I'm sure he'll understand."

"Alright," she conceded. "Oh no! What am I going to wear?" Jess asked in horror as though calamity had struck.

"Come on, I'll take you shopping," I muttered, already regretting the words.

For hours I was stuck as Jess tried on dress after dress, asking for my critique. Every time I found it hard to not just compliment her. I had with the first dress: a lovely duck-egg blue, knee length thing.

"Really? You don't think it makes me look a bit…I don't know…a bit childish?" She'd asked.

"Jess, if _you _don't like it, don't get it," I'd told her, but I secretly hoped she'd end up getting that one. If she didn't, I would probably end up buying it for her and making the dress she bought mysteriously go missing.

As the hours dragged on, we moved from knee length to ankle length, through every colour of the rainbow, only skipping out black and grey which Jess told me were 'dreary colours', before we arrived back at the first dress.

"Okay, it's between this one," said Jess, holding up my favourite (the pale greeny-blue dress) with the matching shoes, "and this lilac one." She pursed her lips deep in thought before crying out, "I just can't decide!"

Making the decision for her, I strode forwards and took the lilac dress from her hands and hung it back on the rail. "The bridesmaids are wearing lilac."

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier? We could have already been back to the hotel."

"I was hoping to avoid my parents for a while longer…"

"Becker, I hope I'm not prying, but what actually happened between you and your parents?" She asked timidly whilst we wandered over to the till.

"They couldn't understand why I wanted to join the army," I replied simply.

"Why did you join the army?"

"I wanted to help people, to serve and protect the country. I've always been very patriotic – so were my parents; but not enough to want to serve the way I did."

"And your parents thought…" Jess prompted whilst I was lost in the memory of telling my parents of my decision.

"…that I just wanted to kill people, I suppose." Jess harrumphed and I smiled at her emotional response for me before stopping her hand from handing over the sixty pounds she was paying for the dress. "Jess, let me."

"What? No, my dress and shoes, I'll pay."

"Please. You've been amazing today. You saved us from an awkward lunch, so this is my repayment."

"Chocolate would have sufficed," Jess muttered.

"Then I'll get some of that too. Here you go," I said to the man behind the counter, handing over a bunch of notes and passing the carrier bag to Jess. "I did wonder though, why _did _you agree to lunch with my family. I thought you wanted to catch up with your Mandy, Beth and Kirsty."

She laughed before turning to face me. "They were pretty keen for me to sit with you. I'm sure they'll be wanting all the gossip on the 'fit guy' when we get back. You might even have to stop them from kidnapping me."

"I'll be there."

Jess beamed.

"No, seriously I'll be there. I'm sticking with _you_, not my crazy family!"

Playfully, Jess slapped my arm.

"Be nice! They're your family and they can't be any worse than mine."

Shaking my head, I countered, "Jess, I've met your family. My family is _so _much worse than yours. Just wait till my sisters interrogate you – they'll think we're dating and that we secretly arranged to meet here."

Jess turned slightly pink and I began to wonder if she hadn't picked the hotel to meet her friends on purpose because she _knew _I'd be there.

"No, they seemed really nice."

The car journey back to the hotel was filled with banter over whose family was more annoying; but it was fair to say that neither of us won. Jess managed to come back strongly though, when talking about how embarrassing it was when her brother complimented my hair.

"Yeah, you've definitely got something in common there," I told her.

"What do you mean?" Jess asked, and I realised she didn't remember telling me the exact same thing after she'd been bitten by the futuristic bugs.

"Nothing," I smirked, keeping it a secret.

Jess was right. The second we walked through the hotel's double front doors, we were ambushed and her three friends began to drag her off, whilst Jess looked over her shoulder at me, practically begging for help before being carried out of sight. I stood in shock, completely surprised by the accuracy of Jess' prediction and the fact that her friends had literally been pulling her by the wrists, her feet dragging along the floor. Remembering my promise, however, I stopped at the reception desk and asked where I could get chocolate and Julie pointed me in the direction of confectionary counter.

"Right," I nodded. "Thanks, it's just it's for a friend who is staying here; but I have no idea what room she's in…"

"Name?" Julie asked with a sigh.

"Jessica Parker," I answered, smiling at my luck.

"She's on the second floor, in room 201."

"Excellent, thanks." I chanted 201 to myself as I made my way to the confectionary counter and paid for three boxes of chocolate and then headed up to the second floor.

Unfortunately, room 201 was directly opposite the lift and at the exact moment the doors opened, I saw Jess sneak out of the room and close the door behind her, leaning back against the wall in relief.

"I only just escaped," she whispered.

"Got these for you," I replied, equally as quiet and handed over the chocolates. Jess smiled her thanks and just as she took them from me, the door opened behind her.

"There you are!" Kirsty declared. "Oh, and with Mr Fit and Handsome. In! Both of you!"

Jess grabbed my arm and towed me in, desperate for some moral support.

"You must be Becker," Beth said. "We've been hearing things from Jess about you. There was definitely something about being good-looking, wasn't there, Mandy?"

"Yep, and Jess was definitely not exaggerating." Mandy raised her eyebrows and looked me up and down before whispering something to Kirsty that made the pair of them burst into a fit of giggles.

I shot a nervous glance at Jess, who was staring at anything but me and looked decidedly red in the face.

Quite suddenly, Jess' three friends upped sticks and left the room.

"Where are they going?" I asked Jess.

"They're probably plotting something – it's what they do best."

With a deep sense of foreboding, I gulped. "What would they be plotting?"

Jess mumbled something incoherently though it sounded suspiciously like 'getting us together' and then we had no more time alone to talk as Mandy bounded back into the room.

"Well, it's been great seeing you, Jess, and it was cool meeting you, Becker; but we've really got to be off."

"What?" Jess asked in shock. "We've hardly spent any time together!"

I turned away, feeling slightly guilty for taking Jess away from her friends and one of her only opportunities to catch up with them due to our hectic work schedules.

"Well, university is calling us. You know how it is, Jess. Pyjama nights at the SU Bar…lectures in the morning…" Beth said, coming in from the hallway.

"But surely you can miss one day of lectures?"

"Jess, this is us you're talking to," said Kirsty incredulously. "We've already missed a day of lectures. What did you think we would have been doing today if we weren't here?"

"Fine! Go I'll just have to have Becker entertain me!" Jess replied melodramatically, grinning at her best friends as they backed into the hallway again.

"Oh, we're sure you can get him to entertain you in all sorts of ways," Mandy replied suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows and smirking.

Jess flushed whilst I choked on thin air.

"Be good to each other," Beth and Kirsty chorused as they reached out for the door handle and pulled it off.

"Wait! Don't close that-" I shouted, lamely finishing with "door," as they closed it, leaving us locked in.

"Bugger," Jess cursed. "We can't get out, can we?"

"Only if someone opens the door on that side…" I told her, knowing how unlikely it was that anyone would come looking for us in Jess' room. "Great," I said sarcastically sinking into the sofa and sighing out loud. "Now what are we going to do?"

"Can't you just shoulder the door down?"

I shook my head. "It's like the ARC lockdown situation. If someone breaks or tries to force a door at all in this hotel, the room is sealed." It had been one of the reasons I chose the hotel: just in case an anomaly happened to open anywhere nearby.

Jess jumped onto the sofa and ended up being bounced onto the floor, where she sat pouting. I laughed.

"Guess your friends were wrong. Looks like you'll be entertaining me."

"Shut up," Jess muttered.

"Sorry," I grinned.

"Will you please stop that?" She asked after a few moments.

"Stop what?" I questioned back, still smiling at the memory of her falling on her bum.

"Smiling at me!"

"Why?"

"It's…distracting," she admitted reluctantly. I continued to smile, aware of her gaze on me, enjoying the fact that finally we were equal. It seemed I wasn't the only one who was easily distracted. Just the sound of Jess' heels on the hard ARC floors made me look around for her in anticipation, making me forget what number I was at when I was ensuring all the EMDs were accounted for. Even her voice over the comms was dangerously mesmerising when I was driving.

"If you don't stop grinning like an idiot," Jess threatened.

"Love-struck idiot," I corrected.

"What?" I grinned even more at the sight of Jess' disbelief.

"Never mind that, what will you do to me if I don't stop?"

"Wipe it off," she murmured, staring at me once more.

"How?" I asked, jolting her out of her daydream stare.

"Like this," she said determinedly, leaning up on her knees and grabbing the sides of my face. My eyes darted from side to side, taking in the position of her hands, the way she was coming closer, her eyes glowing with something…before they closed when her lips touched mine.

Unbidden, a groan sprang from my lips and my hands took her elbows pulling her upwards where she straddled my lap. For a few precious seconds, we were alone. And then the door opened and someone gasped and laughed.

"Wow. Was not expecting this quite so quickly…" Beth muttered.

Jess' hand briefly left the side of my face to send her away.

Beth tutted at the gesture and made to close the door, humming happily.

Jess broke away for air, took my hand and ran towards the open door, only arriving just in time to stop it closing with her foot.

"Ow! Fffffuuu-"

I cut her off, lifting her into my arms and carrying her out and up to my room where the dress and shoes waited.

"Are you okay?" I asked concernedly.

"I'll be fine," Jess muttered as she retrieved the bag holding her new outfit. I nodded and moved into the bedroom to get changed myself. When I came back out, I gasped. Not only did Jess look breathtakingly beautiful in the dress and shoes, but she'd just finished applying makeup and doing her hair (I guessed her friends must have taken pity on her and brought what she needed) and was looking stunning with curls and her eyes surrounded in pale turquoise eye shadow.

Jess smiled nervously as I took her face gently in my hands and bent to kiss her, holding onto my wrists and stretching up to meet me halfway.

We sprang apart in surprise when a dry voice sounded from the doorway. "Guess someone did my work for me," Gillian said, with Beth, Mandy and Kirsty gathered around behind her.

"Doesn't anyone knock around here?" I complained, taking Jess' hand and leading her past Gillian (who was in her wedding dress, looking amazing) and out of the room.

As we went down in the lift, she kissed me again before murmuring, "I think I'm going to have to reintroduce you to my family."

Between kisses, I replied, "Why?"

"I'll have to introduce you as my boyfriend."

"You already did that, remember?" I joked. "It's me who needs to introduce you properly to _my _family. What do you say? Are you ready to really meet the Beckers?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**** Review? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Alternatively you may have electronic cookies...double chocolate chip...**


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